somewhere out there
by visceraEffect
Summary: Somewhere out there, a monster is curled up. Somewhere out there, that monster is crying with no one to hold him. AU!
1. paraphernalia

A/N: Some of these will be shorter, and some will be longer. This is AU, so keep that in mind. Thanks, and I don't own any of these characters.

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Things that Eren didn't need, he threw out. Things that he kept were things that held memories to him. Most of them involved Mikasa, his beloved adopted sister. A small margin of them were from his mother and father, two very different characters somehow bonded over two golden rings.

Twirling his pencil in his hand, Eren's mind wandered away from his bare desk, save for a small desk light and a couple of textbooks. It wandered to a place where there was no pain, no crying, no negativity. And he sighed. It simply wasn't possible. His pencil continued spinning.

Eren's room was simple. And it was bare, just like his desk. He wasn't a very organized, clean person, but there was not much to be thrown around. Clothes of simple earthy colors littered the creamy pale carpet, jeans scattered one way or another. Mikasa hadn't done her weekly clear through of the mess of clothing and Eren sure as hell wouldn't do it. However, if anyone decided to peek in the drawer, they'd only see one or two shirts left, and old pants that he would never wear.

He wasn't abnormally dirty; the brown-haired sloth simply wasn't the cleanest. The scent of adolescent boy clung to him like it should, and his attitude was nothing less than a typical teenager.

Eren eventually threw the pencil at the paper, groaning and holding his head in feigned pain. He secretly wished Mikasa would come and tutor him, but she was busy, either studying or drowning away the rest of the world with her headphones.

He gazed at his accumulation of goods throughout his sixteen years living under the same roof, in the same room. Glancing past the rows of stuffed animals from more than ten years ago and the empty bottles of lotion from travels abroad, his eyes landed on something he hadn't seen in a while.

A small scrap of rolled up, laminated paper had caught his eye, and the familiar curl of old photographs seemed very nostalgic. Grabbing it and unrolling it, eventually the face of a young Mikasa and a young Eren grinning wildly with flowers tightly gripped in their chubby, seven-year old fists greeted the older boy.

He looked so happy with himself and his adopted sister. He looked like he lived in a world with no pain and no tears.

Crumpling the paper up, Eren threw it to a random corner in his room.

His life was too simple to constitute a happy past.

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Reviews appreciated!


	2. small talk

A/N: They're getting shorter and shorter... _ _|| Sorry... The next few ones should be "short" like this, but as the plot progresses, I promise they'll be longer. Regardless, these are like ficlets, rather than drabbles or actual fiction lol

I don't own any of these characters.

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They almost came in pairs, if it weren't for their conflicting genders. Mikasa swiped a rice grain off Eren's cheek and he shot her an appreciative grin. She simply nodded and continued eating neatly, in comparison to her brother's wild and sporadic food shoveling. Carla attempted to make conversation, weakly starting with, "So how was your school day?"

Eren stopped eating for a moment, pulling at his uniform in a displeased fashion, before continuing to stuff his mouth full. Mikasa, on the other hand, put down her bowl with a gentle clink and replied, "It was good."

"Eren?"

He glanced up, bright green eyes meeting the same vivid hues of his mother's. "It was fine." Muffled by the presence of food in his mouth, the teen male covered the lower half of his face with the rice bowl to keep part of his dignity.

The conversation died there and the beauty of a mother was unable to revive the conversation besides a small, piping, "Dad will be here much later; he got caught up with some experiments, " to which, the two siblings simply nodded and devoured the rest of the edible things on their plate. Carla hid a small grin at the fact that both of them nitpicked out all the peas.

"Thanks for the meal, Mom!" The two chorused and for a moment, Eren hesitated, but ended up fleeing the dining room, leaving Carla alone with leftovers and empty bowls.

The woman laughed softly, listening as the two bickered about who would take the shower first and made up, then bickered and just as quickly, solved their problems without any of her injected violence.

The two were inseparable, two peas in a pod.

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Reviews appreciated!


	3. despite

A/N: Due to the shortness of this one, I will be posting 4 shortly. 8D I don't own any of these characters, again.

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"I don't know how it happened, but it did." Mikasa looked troubled, her fingers intertwining with the chains of the swings. "It scares me, Armin."

The blonde-haired, bowlcut-sporting boy bit inside his cheek thoughtfully, eyes pointing star-ward as he analyzed the situation. He swung gently, lifting his legs up and stealing a glance at the now sighing girl.

"So, let me get this straight." Armin stopped his swing and looked Mikasa dead in the eye. "You like Eren?"

The girl nodded, the expression on her face a mix between embarrassment and guilt.

"I don't know why you're so flustered about this. It's not like it's incest, right?" Armin laughed lightly, continuing to swing on the metal band on chains the city called a swing in a dilapidated park. His hands tightened on the chains as the wind picked up. "So you have nothing to worry-"

"What if this comes out to the public somehow? Wouldn't Eren-"

"That might matter to them. We live in a city of pricks anyways." Armin shrugged and then added slowly that it didn't matter if she wasn't part of his biological family.

"As long as you love him." He didn't specify as a sister or as a lover...

Mikasa pressed her cold fingers to the warmth in her cheeks and a sweet smile spread on her candy-pink lips. It didn't matter if she turned out to be Eren's blood sister, then.

As long as she loved him.

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Reviews appreciated!


	4. consume

A/N: Hope this makes up for the short Chapter 3. I will eventually introduce more characters, but most of the time, I'll be focusing on the changing relationship between Mikasa, Eren, and Levi, thus the only 3 characters tagged. I don't own Eren and stuff D8.

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There were days he thought the sound of the blood running in his veins would consume him and all he would see was red. Eren thought it was normal and that it would go away when he was younger, but it never did. During those days, even the sunlight seemed like it wanted to skin him alive.

Branches from trees seemed to lean out and attempt to snag Eren's clothes. The ground sometimes tried to trip him, yanking itself off his feet and acquainting itself with the soft, scraped up cheek.

On those kinds of days, he thought it was because Mikasa wasn't there.

Eren curled under the blanket, hoping his mom wouldn't come barging in to clean his room again. He skipped school today, the constant murmur of shadow voices and the rushing of blood making him deaf to the world. Mikasa knew it was that kind of day, and before she left, she leaned over his prone body and promised she'd be back soon.

The messy, brown-haired boy barely had the strength to smile and nod.

He could hear the whistling of Carla as she busily cleaned up the halls with the excuse that she called a broom. Eren thought about spending his allowance on a new broom for his mom, and a smile spread on his face.

But as soon as that smile came, it disappeared just as fast.

No matter what he thought about, it would all circle back to sadness in a never ending elliptical figure around his head, like a planet orbiting the sun. Every person's destiny is to die. In the end, a person will love himself more than others. Sacrifice is about honor, not about loving someone.

Eren shut his eyes as the voices grew louder and chorused in dirty, little voices that wouldn't stop. He clenched his fists and bit his lip so hard, he felt the coppery taste of blood touch his tongue.

Happiness wasn't something that could be his in times like this.

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Reviews appreciated!


	5. new teacher

A/N: Introducing, Mr. Crabby Pants! His entrance is less than flashy, but I intend on developing Eren and his relationship very, VERY slowly. So if you're the type to like the fast "first-look-love" kind of fic, this is not for you. :( I don't own any of these characters~

Enjoy!

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Eren dragged himself to school the next day, ignoring Mikasa's complaints that he should stay in bed and rest more. Carla had no idea that her son had skipped school, and also had no idea of his strange ailment. The boy planned to keep it that way.

Mikasa adjusted the scarf around his neck and he hissed at her. "Stop babying me! I feel fine," Eren grumbled at the dark-haired girl and she frowned at him, the curve of her lips reminiscent to their mother's. Bystanders awkwardly walked past them, choosing not to interfere in their rather loud bickering.

"You were just sick!" Mikasa shot back and the arguing continued, until they reached the classroom, where she eventually stomped off, nose high in the air.

Eren slumped into his desk, watching familiar-faced students mill around and clump together in established cliques. He didn't belong to any of them, so he simply pulled out a notebook and his pencils and got ready for class. Behind him, he could hear Mikasa's laugh and rude comments from Jean. He ignored them.

But before he could listen to more, the bell rang loudly, and the door slid open with an ill-tempered slam. A rather short, black-haired man walked into the room; his most prominent features were his sharp, shadowy eyes. A large briefcase was unceremoniously dropped on the table and the class fell silent in record time. From the corner of his eye, Eren saw Jean straighten up and paste a look of seriousness for the first time in forever.

"Class." His voice was sharp and low, almost raspy but melodic in tone. If it weren't for the brutal force of his eyes boring into everyone, everyone probably would've swooned. "I will be your home room teacher this year."

"I refuse to be addressed as my name. You will address me as nothing more than sir." From his seat at the front of the room, Eren received the full brunt of his glare and he felt his fingers trembling. His homeroom teacher was surely a very scary, commanding man, despite his "short" height.

But, as Eren focused in on the crisp attire that his teacher wore, he spied the small, laminated teacher ID card with a scowling picture of a younger-looking man and bold, black letters that spelled out a simple four-letter word with no last name.

_Levi._

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Reviews appreciated! :)


	6. seniority

A/N: I really don't don't know how long this is going to go for, honestly. I don't really plan out my stories, but if someone has a suggestion, I'd gladly hear them out! I don't own any of these characters, enjoy!

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Eren stared jealously at the broad-chested, large-shouldered upperclassmen that walked through the halls like they owned it. If he could see his own expression, Eren was sure he would be sick.

But his fists clenched and his jaw tightened instinctively as the two largest seniors appeared in the line: Reiner Braun and Bertolt Hoover.

Short blond hair versus shaggy black hair, they couldn't be more different but more the same. Eren watched them parade past, wishing he could slam one of their faces in one day. The teachers didn't care about the wellbeing of their students. Their superiority, the teachers and the seniors, made a bitter taste rise up in his throat. He'd damn change this school.

If only he was a little bigger, a little stronger... Maybe he would join Mikasa when she went to the gym.

Eren shook his head and barked a laugh, eyes downcast.

"As if-" Before he finished his sentence, he hit a person's chest and stumbled backwards, mouth open and ready to spit insults...

Until he realized it was his home room teacher.

"Eren Jaeger." Levi's eyes stabbed through his soul and the younger boy hid his trembling hands.

"Yes, sir?!" He quickly stood up straight and placed his right fist over his heart.

Levi paused for a moment, his gaze unblinking and unmoving from Eren.

"Watch where you're going next time, fool."

Eren let out a breath he didn't know he was holding.

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Reviews appreciated!


	7. smashing titans

A/N: It's starting... Haha, I don't own any of these characters. Enjoy!

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Mikasa was at the gym that fateful after school and Eren was bored out of his mind.

Scuffing his heels against the dirty pavement, the boy wandered, sighing deeply. The sky was a vivid hue of Armin's eyes, but dotted with puffy white clouds that stretched their arms wide across the blue.

Before long, Eren found himself standing in front of a park near his house. Passing two rusty swings, he pushed past some overgrown bushes and stared at a stone fountain, complete with a hideous statue in the middle.

Goddamn, was that thing ugly. His face twisted into an expression akin to pity for the statuette on the fountain. Elongated neck, a more-than-creepy smile carved into stone, the body of an adult man with a tiny toga, no wonder why the fountain was abandoned in this dirty, run-down park. The two swings that actually worked were on the other side and Eren, being bored out of his mind, collected a couple of rocks.

Leisurely throwing them at the ugly thing, he imagined it to be the faces of all the bullies and the shit-throwers at his school. Chips of stone flew out of the statue and an almost feral grin crossed his face.

Maybe he could let out that steam of rage at this stupid thing. No one would miss it anyways. _A Titan..._

Eren walked around the fountain and chucked a stone at the base of the statue's neck, and it cleanly severed the head from the body. The brown-haired boy watched the stone crack into pieces on the ground and satisfaction purred in his body. _A colossus fallen from grace..._

__Throwing and catching the spare stone in his hand, he felt more _alive_ than anything in the world.

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Reviews appreciated!


	8. bloodlust and response

A/N: I'm totally trying to imply that people suck. A lot. Especially when they're in groups and they do whatever their peers are telling them to do? That sucks. I don't own SnK characters. Armin's really adorable.

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"I'll fucking kill you!"

Armin sat on the ground, pale skin already bruising and tears beading up in his scared blue eyes. Blood ran freely from his nose, and at seeing the red liquid, Eren dove at the group of kids that were kicking the poor blond like a hawk.

He felt a dull pain rise in his chest and soon, blood dimmed his hearing and all he could feel was rage; unadulterated rage filtered through his blood like adrenaline, and if he could control himself, he would've let out a vicious battle cry before plunging at the bullies.

Eren's fist found its way, buried in someone's cheek, and the other connected with another kid's ribs. Flailing and blinded by fury, he inflicted pain upon those that wronged him, or rather, Armin.

"You don't touch my friends, you fuckers!" In a lustful rage for blood, Eren straddled a particular kid, and in the midst of punching him, he grabbed the boy's arm and bit him wildly. A howl of pain made the others shrink back but they all looked afraid of the monster in front of them. Red imprints remained on the boy's skin, bite marks that would eventually disappear...

"Gah! He bit me! He's gonna kill me!"

"Oh my god, Jaeger's a monster!"

"Get him before he bites other people!"

Eren felt himself being dragged off the boy and thrashed around violently, feeling jolts of pain from the kicks and punches of the crowd.

Then, from over all the chaos and the pandemonium, he heard Mikasa and her drawn-out scream. It was now either him or the bullies that were going to die.

Eren fell to the ground next to a sniveling Armin, the brown-haired boy spent and wide-eyed, breathing hard, but smiling despite the aching pains and the growing bruises. He felt alive, and as he turned towards Mikasa, he watched her kick a boy's hand off her shoe casually, contempt clear in her eyes.

"I saved you again." She gave him a sidelong glance and looked down at the unconscious boy under her shoes.

"I know."

"Don't I deserve something?"

"They were hurting Armin." Mikasa shuddered and her eyes grew cold. She gave the boy another hefty kick in the ribs and stomped out.

"Hopefully we don't get caught."

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Reviews appreciated!


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